CHAPTER IV 

 INITIATING THE CAMPAIGN 



NEED FOR STATISTICS 



Although, in any community where mosquitoes are numerous, 

 their eradication solely as a source of annoyance is probably 

 well worth the cost of the campaign, it should be borne in mind 

 that in most communities the campaign is launched primarily 

 as a health measure, with the object of reducing the toll of 

 malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases. 



Where such a campaign is under consideration, it is necessary 

 to have some figures of the incidence of the mosquito-borne 

 diseases in order to show the necessity for the campaign and thus 

 obtain the money required to conduct it. It is also advisable 

 to be able to show the reduction in disease resulting from the 

 work, so that the community will know that the expenditure was 

 a profitable one from a financial viewpoint. 



In order to do this, the director must have at hand reliable 

 statistics covering the incidence of the mosquito-borne diseases 

 for one or more years prior to the initiation of the campaign, 

 as well as those covering the incidence of the same diseases during 

 the campaign. There must be some basis of comparison. 



Of course, the residents of the community will be able to get 

 some idea of the efficacy of the work by the absence or presence 

 of mosquitoes in general. However, it is well recognized that 

 it may be possible to reduce malaria very considerably, and still 

 have numerous non-Anopheline mosquitoes present. While 

 anti-malaria campaigns as a rule include eradication of all 

 mosquitoes, it is well known that certain other common domestic 

 mosquitoes are much more difficult to control than the Anopheles. 



COLLECTION OF STATISTICS 



If the community is in a State where malaria and the other 

 mosquito-borne diseases are reportable or notifiable, records of 

 the past incidence of the diseases may be obtained from the 

 State Health Department, the Registrar of Vital Statistics or 

 other official source, If, however, the community is in a State 



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